Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The streets of ATL

Before I moved back to The Gulf Coast, I worked in mid-town Atlanta, GA. The last week I was there, I noticed people running to the windows and looking down. Below us, in the street was Baton Bob. He was wearing pink tights, waving to passing traffic, and high stepping his way south. People would press their face to the glass as he slowly marched out of view. When he was gone, they'd all go back to their cubes.

On my last day in Atlanta, as I was returning to the office from lunch, we stopped for a red light at the corner West Peachtree and 5th Street. Bob arrived. We waved as he marched past. He waved back and twirled his baton. I couldn't help but smile. It's one of my favorite memories before Katrina. I wish I had a picture of that moment.

Today, my buddy Kim Hall sent a picture of him and Baton Bob. That's Bob in the middle. On the right is Kimmer. Big, bald, and loaded with more juice than Zeus. He's my favorite muscled-up bruiser. (On the left is Pabian, Jeff Pabian. Doubt he remembers me from our days at EarthLink/MindSpring. I used to call him Scarecrow, he looked like Ichabod Crane. Looks like he's got some gray creeping up on the wig)

Bob and Kimmer make a nice couple. Though I think Bob has much nicer legs!